Former Swarthmore student seeks damages after expulsion

A former male student at Swarthmore College has filed a civil complaint seeking more than $75,000 from the liberal arts institution as a result of his expulsion last year.

“John Doe” alleges the college, amidst a firestorm of negative publicity surrounding allegations that it failed to properly address claims of sexual assault on campus, railroaded him out on false accusations of sexual misconduct that he believed he had previously been cleared on.

According to the complaint filed Jan. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Doe and an unnamed female engaged in a kiss and “sexual activities” on two separate dates in late April 2011, and then consensual sexual intercourse in May 2011.

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More than a year and a half later, the unnamed female alleged Doe had coerced her into the first two encounters. A two-month investigation concluded in Jan. 2013 without any charges or disciplinary action taken against Doe, who believed he was cleared of any wrong-doing, according to the complaint.

But the following April, two female students at the school filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education under the Cleary Act and Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs.

The women alleged Swarthmore discourages students from filing sexual misconduct complaints, underreports such incidents and fails to properly investigate or discipline sexual offenders.

The case gained significant media attention and President Rebecca Chopp, in response, told the press that the college has a “zero tolerance” stance against sexual misconduct, according to the complaint.

Shortly thereafter, Swarthmore reopened its investigation into Doe. Within a month of the DOE complaint, which is still being investigated, Doe says a College Judiciary Committee decided he “more likely than not” violated the college’s sexual misconduct policy and expelled him.

Doe appealed the ruling, which Chopp denied. He was the first student at Swarthmore to be expelled for sexual misconduct following the fallout from the DOE complaints, according to the complaint.

“John was the whipping boy that Swarthmore needed to demonstrate its new ‘zero tolerance’ standard to deal with allegations of sexual misconduct,” the complaint said. “The investigation against John was ‘re-opened’ and he was expelled based solely on his gender … in flagrant disregard of the college’s own policies and procedures.”

Doe, who currently resides in North Carolina, alleges the school’s sexual misconduct policies are gender-biased toward female accusers and therefore violate Title IX.

The complaint additionally claims the school went against many of its own policies in re-opening and quickly deciding on the allegations against Doe in an attempt to appear tough on perpetrators of sexual misconduct. This allegedly denied Doe the ability to properly mount a defense or receive a fair hearing.

Doe claims his future earnings potential, career prospects and reputation have been damaged by the ordeal, if not destroyed. In addition to the Title IX violation, he alleges counts for breach of contract, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The complaint has been filed anonymously under a pending motion for permission to proceed under pseudonym and likewise does not name the accuser.

It is unclear at this point whether Doe will enjoy that anonymity for long. Another federal case filed in October by three women against Swarthmore College for allegedly failing to take allegations of sexual misconduct seriously was voluntarily withdrawn last week. Judge L. Felipe Restrepo was not initially swayed that the interests of justice would be served by either sealing the case or allowing the plaintiffs to proceed as “Jane Does,” but allowed the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint including their real names or another motion more fully explaining their reasons for continuing anonymously. He also filed an order unsealing the case.

The women did file a subsequent second motion to proceed anonymously, but withdrew it along with the complaint because they did not want to reveal their names. The merits of that case – which claimed several administrators at the college misled alleged victims of sexual assault, failed to properly protect them from sexual assault and failed to properly investigate or prosecute sexual assault – were never actually litigated.

Michael Baughman, an attorney for the school, did not say Thursday whether the college will pursue the same motion in this case, but did offer a statement on the complaint.

“The College believes that the suit is without merit and will vigorously defend the litigation,” said Baughman in an e-mail. “In light of federal privacy laws, I will not comment about the specifics of this case, but I can tell you that the complaint does not fully and accurately describe the situation and the College will respond in Court shortly. The College is committed, and always has been committed, to providing all students with a fair process of adjudication in student conduct proceedings.”

Attorney Patricia Hamill, representing Doe, said it is critical to understand that at the heart of this case rests the reputations and futures of young adults.

“The complaint clearly asserts the fact that the rights of an outstanding, well-regarded student were ignored by Swarthmore College’s investigation and adjudication of a false claim made against him,” she said in an email Thursday. “With nowhere else to turn, he has initiated this action to restore his reputation, academic career, and professional prospects. We sincerely hope that Swarthmore recognizes its error and moves quickly to resolve this matter and restore the student’s reputation.”

About the Author

Alex Rose covers court proceedings for the Daily Times. He also writes a weekly science column. Reach the author at arose@delcotimes.com
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